March 21, 2006

Irish beef industry calls for total EU ban on Brazilian beef

While reporting stronger growth for the beef trade amidst strong demand and tighter supplies, Irish Farmers Association (IFA) National Livestock Committee Chairman John Bryan repeated the call for a total ban on South American beef from the EU.

Bird flu across Europe and the FMD crises in South America recently were driving beef demand and should push prices up, Bryan said, adding that a further 20 cases of FMD in Brazil, confirms the fact that the disease is still spreading and far from under control.

In light of these recent developments, IFA is repeating its call for the EU to impose a total ban on all South American beef. Current EU bans on Brazilian beef only applies to some states where FMD cases have been reported.

Bryan said it was unacceptable that the EU were exposing the European livestock sector to unnecessary risks by not imposing more stringent restrictions on the importation of beef from Argentina and Brazil. By imposing only a partial ban, the EU Commission is ignoring the facts on the FMD disease.

Bryan highlighted the fact that in a report following a visit to Argentina, the EU Food and Veterinary office identified weaknesses in its control of foot and mouth disease and its public health control systems. The report also concluded that the system could not meet EU requirements on traceability.

While European producers are subjected to strict standards of traceability, animal health and food safety control, producers from South America are subjected to much lower standards, Bryan said.

He also lambasted the weak approach of the EU Commission on import standards compared with stringent conditions applied by countries such as USA, New Zealand, Japan and Korea.